> I'd have a lab and employ engineers and workers to create all the crazy stuff I always dreamt of.
That's exactly what they are doing with their businesses. Isabel dos Santo has worked hard to get where she is. She doesn't have the time to run a lab she's creating all the crazy stuff she dreams of.
Unless you are talking about the kids who are not working in the business, which is why they are not working, to not work.
> This is very true. If you have the possibility to do entrepreneurial experiments or similar, do it! I don't wish to begrudge anyone that, I am of the opinion that you should just any competitive advantage you have in your favour. Be it rich parents or a very creative mind. It is unfair, for those who can't 'compete' in that advantage but that is life I guess?
Oddly enough this is a form of using existing connections and social networks to find work. You are simply using resources that aren't directly related to the company you are working for.
That said, you are displacing workers who do not have existing wealth and family connections to back their life. They cannot reasonably work for free and compete with your existing resources/wealth/support. Doing this isn't ethical and promote systemic unemployment of those who cannot work for low wage or free.
It's not optimal, but it's pretty common in management courses. I wish I had more of that in Engineering (even though we hated it at the time).
> Open a company in Brazil is crazy
Crazy? Try shutting one down to see what's crazy.
> Labour protection here is insane too
I have to disagree with you on that one. As an entrepreneur, you have responsibilities towards your employees. Far too frequently you see entrepreneurs who think they are doing employees a favor by giving them jobs when very few realize that they hired people because they couldn't do it themselves. It's a privilege to have a smart team working to make your dreams true.
> Don't studies show that when there's a profit motive creative people perform more poorly than when they're just paid enough to make money not a distraction?
Whoever did that study, they didn't interview me.
I mean, it's true that I care more about doing good work, learning new things, and making an impact. But I can do that on my own, and I've been self-employed for the last few years. The only reason I would join or start a new company is for the money.
> How do decisions get made? What if it's really successful and people get lazy and decide to chill on a boat?
If I started a coop, that would actually be our goal. I think it's funny that people don't admit this.
> If I knew then what I know now, I'm not sure I would have started this.
You said you are making more money from this than from your full-time job. So I'm assuming the business is profitable and has a ton of potential. Are you saying that it requires too much work, and that it wasn't worth it?
> I intend to start a couple of for profit side businesses
Not saying this applies to you, but a thing a lot of people are going to find out is how little they actually accomplish with the extra time. It's so much easier (and fun!) to dream about going to the gym, having a garden, and starting a business while stuck in traffic than to actually follow through and do those things.
No need to wish. Starting a business is a learnable skill, and you can learn it from any of a huge number of resources. It isn't even that complex.
It's just a whole lot more work than you probably expect, even if you expect it to be a lot of work. But you get all the rewards of it, rather than being underpaid as an employee (all employees are underpaid in the sense that they have to generate more money for the business than they cost, or hiring doesn't pencil out.)
"Build your own dreams, or someone else will pay you to build theirs."
> If you believe in your idea get a loan from family, friends or banks or get a high paying job save money and then start your business.
I don't understand if this is supposed to be a joke or you are really that sheltered and clueless. Just get a loan from your family and get started? You are aware that for the vast, vast, vast majority of people this is not an option that's available to them, right? Get a high paying job and save money? Jesus Christ, but how?? How do you do that if there are no such jobs for you, either because of your location or because of your lack of education? Surely you would tell a 14 year old working 12h a day making cheap sneakers in Bangladesh to either ask his parents for money or to save his 0.25$ an hour salary and start a company, without an education. After all, this is perfectly feasible and if you don't so it you deserve to stay poor.
> many, many, many people that gave their lifetimes and labour toward furthering the goals of the Patagonia company
And they could leave at any point, they are paid for their work within 30 days. They take 0 risk.
As an entrepreneur for 20 years, I used to believe employees believe in companies and missions, but they don't, 99% of the time. They get paid for 30 days work, on time, and if they get a better offer they leave.
I'm sorry but that is 0 risk compared to what an entrepreneur does. People like yourself clearly have no idea how much responsibility and risk, and emotional strain an entrepreneur takes on, while employing people and paying them monthly. There is no comparison.
Don't expect people who take 0 risk to become millionaires. It's a ridiculous proposition. If that were the case "everyone" would be a millionaire, or a professional sports person, or an influencers, or whatever.
Taking risk, and building things yourself is much much harder. People who have never done it don't understand.
>I've run a few businesses over the years and the return of investment of self sufficiency is barely worth it in the long run.
Most people aren't looking at it from the perspective of making a killing. They just want to get away from having a boss. For whatever reason they don't fit the corporate mould. Running their own show represents freedom.
> I get contacted for a lot of “rich kid” startups for consulting work.
Aren't you proving the OP's point? The point was, precisely, that they have options, not that they "persevere". Contracting consulting work is one such option.
Why? Why would I start a business where there is no market? We've gone over this. It's not a technical and/or solution issue. It's that the gate keepers - the ones who would but the product - don't want something that's good for consumers but bad for them.
The combination of work ethic, of risk tolerance, and of perseverance against ridiculous odds that is required to build a Tesla, or an Apple, or a Whatever, is extraordinarily rare
> resources and goods are so cheap that there's no point in selling them anymore
That's a good point. Adjacent, but related, I was thinking about starting a company to develop, make and sell educational tools to school. Think micro:bit-like boards, robot kits, water rocket kits, stuff to do experiments, along with the content for the teacher. I didn't do it for a lot of reasons, but one issue I constantly ran into was that market_size * price * profit_span was always just small. Not worth it.
That's exactly what they are doing with their businesses. Isabel dos Santo has worked hard to get where she is. She doesn't have the time to run a lab she's creating all the crazy stuff she dreams of.
Unless you are talking about the kids who are not working in the business, which is why they are not working, to not work.
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